Category Archives: 2010s

Ravi Coltrane – Spirit Fiction (2012)

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The three first tracks Roads Cross, Klepto and Spirit Fiction from the album Spirit Fiction by Ravi Coltrane, is recorded in 2012.

Despite the metaphysical suggestion in Spirit Fiction´s title, this is Ravi Coltranes most cerebral, process-oriented recording to date. This does not mean, however, that his debut offering for Blue Note Records is dry or academic. There is an abundance of emotion and sensual detail, most of it expressed gently, with the confidence — and authority — of a veteran bandleader. [source]

Ravi Coltrane – Tenor & Soprano Saxophone
Luis Perdomo –  Piano
Drew Gress – Bass
E.J. Strickland – Drums
Ralph Alessi – Trumpet
Geri Allen – Piano
James Genus – Bass
Eric Harland – Drums

 

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Jef Lee Johnson – Jungle (2001)

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It’s somewhat amazing that this bold, bizarrely eclectic CD by three guys from Minneapolis would come out on a French label. All three players on this CD are renowned session musicians who have played with everybody from Miles Davis to Billy Joel, but News From the Jungle is anything but the slick production you might expect from a trio of session men. The album starts out with a heavy, menacing sound portrait of a bad night in a bad neighborhood, with Sonny Thompson grimly reciting crime statistics over a pounding beat, wailing guitar, and a collage of police calls and urban sound effects. [Source]




jefleejohnson

[In memory of Jef Lee Johnson - via Jamaaladeen Tacuma]

Peter Evans Quintet – …One to Ninety Two (2011)

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The Peter Evans Quintet’s Ghosts acts as a sort of back-to-the-future recording—that is, if the present were 2021. This inaugural release on the trumpeter’s own label has a standard trumpet/piano/bass/drums setup, plus the incorporation of real-time, live electronic processing to make up the full quintet. Listening to any recording by Evans often prompts the dubious query, “What did I just hear?” since this über-talent is equally comfortable in the worlds of jazz, classical, and free improvisation. Like his compatriot Jon Irabagon, from the reckless post-post-bop band Mostly Other People Do The Killing, Evans has talent on loan from the jazz gods. His trumpet can be heard on Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear, 2011) with Weasel Walter and Mary Halvorson, in duos with fellow trumpeter Nate Wooley or bassist Tom Blancarte, and in compelling solo settings. Evans’ experiments in electronics began with a session in Evan Parker’s Electro-Acoustic Ensemble. But where that was a large troupe, the quintet heard here emphasizes the contributions of Sam Pluta. The disc opens with …”One to Ninety-Two,” Evans’ reinterpretation of Mel Tormé’s “Christmas Song.” [Source]